Week #12 — Judi’s Weekly Recipe

Welcome to Week 12!
You may have noticed that we’re being inundated with peppers of all kinds. Lucky us!  They are a wonderful, nutritious and delicious vegetable. Versatile, too.
Here’s a recipe for a traditional Basque dish, which can be served as a main dish with the addition of protein, can be used as a side dish, or may be used as a condiment. It’s called Piperade.
PIPERADE
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  • plum tomatoes
  • 3TBS extra-virgin olive oil
  • medium onion, thinly sliced
  • medium green bell peppers, stem, seeds and ribs removed, roughly chopped (you can use any sweet peppers)
  • ½ tsp salt
  • cloves garlic, minced
  • tsp sugar
  • ½ tsp hot paprika
  1. Cut a small X into the bottom of each tomato. Bring a pot of water to a boil, add the tomatoes and cook until the skin begins to wrinkle and peel at the edges of the cuts, about 30 seconds.
  2. Drain, rinse with cool water and peel off the tomato skins with your fingers. Roughly chop the tomatoes and set aside.
  3. In a 12-inch skillet heat the oil over medium high heat, until hot but not smoking. Add the onions, peppers and salt and sauté, stirring frequently, until the onions are translucent and the peppers have started to lighten in spots, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and continue to sauté for 1 more minute.
  4. Stir in the tomatoes, sugar and hot paprika, reduce the heat to medium, cover and cook until the tomatoes are starting to fall apart and the peppers are soft but still hold their shape, about 15 minutes.
  5. Remove the cover and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens like a slightly runny relish, about 5 minutes more. Adjust the salt to taste.
Have a delicious week!
Best,
Judi

Week #12 — What’s in the Bag

There are still 25# boxes of tomatoes available through the online CSA Marketplace. Most of the tomatoes in the 25# boxes are plum tomatoes. Also available this week are 1/2 bushel box of Nectarines.

FULL VEGETABLE SHARE
Plum Tomatoes-4
Sun Gold Cherry Tomatoes-1 basket
Slicer Tomatoes-5
Cucumbers-1
Yellow/Purple/Orange Carrots-1 bunch
Banana Sweet Peppers-2 (smooth, yellow)
Biscayne Cubanelle Frying Peppers-2 (long but squarer shoulders)
Lipstick Peppers-2 These are an heirloom and some of the sweetest peppers that we grow. They are great fresh and also roasted.
Serrano Hot Peppers-4
Black Bell Eggplant-1
White Russian Kale-1 bunch
Curly Parsley-1 bunch
Red Onions-2
Green Cabbage-1 head

FRUIT SHARE
1 bag of each of
Yellow Peaches
Nectarines

MUSHROOM SHARE
Oysters

Week #12 — A Note from the Farmer

Dear CSA member,

We are planning the upcoming Fall Farm Visit and hope you will be able to attend. Please mark your calendars The Fall Farm Festival is September 6, 2014 from 11:30-3. Please use the 145 Garcia Lane, Leeds, NY 12451 address.

Come and meet your farmers, walk the fields where your vegetables are grown. At 12 we will gather for lunch. The farm will provide pulled pork and also a vegetarian stew, roast corn and portobello mushrooms, fresh fruit and coffee. Thank you to Paradise to Go, https://paradistogo.com/ . We ask members to bring a dish to share to help round out the lunch offerings and their own place setting.

There will be wagon rides, walks around the farm, freshly dug carrots to pick from the field to take home, help build a scarecrow, pick a bouquet of flowers. If you would like to take flowers home, please bring your own scissors and something that will keep the flowers until you get home. Wet paper towels or newspapers in a plastic bag will usually do the trick.

Heather Ridge Farm www.Heather-ridge-farm.com or https://www.facebook.com/pages/Heather-Ridge-Farm will have fiber items, socks from their own flock of Dorset & Icelandic sheep and llama wool, beeswax candles for sale.

We will have all of our Marketplace items for sale as well: Honey, Maple Syrup, Coffee, Organic Dark Chocolate.

If you have any questions, please send an e-mail to the farm. Hope to see you at the farm.

For more information about outdoor activities please check out:
https://hikethehudsonvalley.com/kaaterskill-falls/
https://hikethehudsonvalley.com/ Use the West of the Hudson search.
Hudson Valley Hiking Guide (www.trails.com)
For information about the wineries in the Hudson Valley Region go to: www.hudsonvalleywinecountry.org/

Enjoy the Vegetables

Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

Judi’s Recipe for Week #11

Welcome to Week 11. We’re nearly halfway through the season, and what a season it’s been! Can you believe the bounty we’ve been getting?

This week marks the return of kale – a favorite of so many of our members. By now you all know how to make kale chips, so how about something a little bit different? Her’s a quick an easy recipe for kale slaw with a twist.

CAESAR KALE SLAW
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1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
8 anchovy fillets packed in oil, drained
1 garlic clove
1 tsp Dijon mustard
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan, divided
Kosher salt and pepper to taste
1 hard-boiled egg, peeled
1 bunch kale, center stalks removed, thinly sliced crosswise (about 8 cups)

1. Combine the first 4 ingredients in a blender and purée until smooth. With the machine running, slowly add the oil, drop by drop, to make a creamy dressing.

2. Transfer the dressing to a bowl and stir in 1/4 cup Parmesan. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and chill.

3. Separate the egg white from the yolk. Place the egg white in a coarse-mesh strainer set over a bowl. Press the egg white through strainer with the back of a spoon; and scrape the egg white from bottom of strainer.

4. Repeat the same process with the egg yolk, using a clean strainer and bowl.

5. Toss the kale and dressing in a large bowl to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Top with the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan and sieved eggs.

NOTE: The dressing can be made up to two days in advance. The eggs can be sieved up to six hours in advance. Cover each bowl separately and refrigerator until serving time.

I hope you enjoy this recipe and all the lovely vegetables. Have a delicious week!
Best,
Judi

Week # 11 — What’s in the Bag

FULL VEGETABLE SHARE
Green Bell Peppers-2
Biscayne Frying Peppers-3
Jalapeno Hot Peppers-4 Do not take our Jalapenos lightly. They are quite hot.
White Clara Eggplant-1
Tomatoes-8
Heirloom Tomato-1
Sun Gold Cherry Tomatoes-1 basket
Cucumbers-4
White Russian Kale-1 bunch
Onions-2
Thyme-1 bunch
Round Of Hungry Heirloom Pepper-1

FRUIT SHARE
1 bag of Red Clapp Pears
1 basket of Donut Peaches
both from Fix Brothers Orchard

MUSHROOM SHARE
Portobello
from Bulich Mushroom Company

Week #11 — Note from the Farmer

Dear CSA Member

The summer is quickly slipping by. The fields are still full of summer favorites and we will continue to harvest. The torrential rain storms that were forecast for our area did not make it this far north. We were very grateful. There has been plenty of rain this summer and wet conditions in the field make it harder to pick, to wash and transport your shares.

This week there are eggplant once again. Steven from the Yorkville CSA has passed on this information. Lori, the site coordinator at Yorkville is working testing more recipes and they are all posted on the farm website Recipe Section. Please take a look. Lori has tested all of the recipes and I am sure they are delicious.

Steve writes, “If the goal is 1) to free up all that fridge space used up by multiple eggplants and 2) cook eggplants with the least possible effort:

Super easy – put the two bell eggplants in the oven at 350 until they are soft (wasn’t timing it exactly but probably 20 minutes, turn, another 20 minutes). Scoop out all the goo and put it in the blender with a bunch of tahini (2-3 ounces). Blend, blend, blend; salt, pepper, paprika, lemon juice. Very nice. Top with chopped scallions and/or sesame seeds to make the presentation a little more classy. Minimal effort, probably a million good baba ganoush recipes out there.

“Tried something similar with the oriental eggplants but they don’t bake the same way. It’s good but lends itself more to a chunkier eggplant salad.”

The pulp—or goo, as Steve calls it—can be used in many other dishes.

Abuganoush, a variation on the baba variety: Instead of puree-ing the pulp, chop it roughly and combine with a diced tomato, a diced cucumber, a diced pepper, two tablespoons of chopped parsley and a diced onion or scallion. Drizzle in some olive olive and season with salt, pepper, and cumin.

Thai Eggplant Dip: While you’re puree-ing the pulp, add 2 tablespoons of finely minced fresh ginger, a tablespoon or two of soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and sesame oil (start with one tablespoon and add more to taste). Sprinkle with a tablespoon of chopped parsley.

Bagnacaudaganoush: I just made this one up, and it’s pretty good: Puree the pulp with several cloves of garlic—roasted garlic is even better—and several anchovy fillets. Add oil to get the consistency you want. You probably won’t need salt—the anchovies are very salty.

A very nice share of tomatoes and peppers both sweet and hot along with onions, cucumbers and Thyme. New this week is Kale. It is a treat to have a green that we have not harvested since the spring time.

There are bulk tomatoes but they do sell out. If you would like to order tomatoes by the 25 pound box, please go to the farm website, Marketplace and then place your order. The boxed tomatoes will be delivered with the CSA shares.

Enjoy the wonderful harvest.
Don’t forget to mark you calendar for the Fall Farm Festival September 6 from 11:30-3.

Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm.

Judi’s Recipe for Week #10

Greetings and welcome to Week 10! I would be saying I’m tired of eggplants and cucumbers, but they’re all so delicious! We’ve been eating eggplant parmigiana, babaganouj, tzatziki and cucumber salad at our house and loving it all.

We are getting more leeks this week, and that makes me think of one of my favorite soups, a cold potato and leek soup called Vichyssoise (pronounced VEE-she-swaz). So wonderful on a hot summer day and very quick and easy! It can, of course, also be eaten hot but, for this time of year, cold is the way to go.

VICHYSSOISE
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3 TBS butter
3 cups leeks, sliced and washed
4 cups potatoes, peeled and diced
Salt and pepper
8 cups water
2 cups heavy cream

1. Melt the butter in a large pot. Add the leeks and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
2. Add the potatoes and season with the salt and pepper.
3. Add water and bring to a simmer. Cook until the vegetables are tender.
4. Put 3/4 of the soup into a blender and puree, then return it to the pot and stir in the cream.

If you are serving the soup cold, let it cool and then refrigerate it until serving time. Give it a quick stir and then serve.

NOTE: Leeks are very sandy. Cut them into rings and float them in a lukewarm sinkful or bowl full of water. The sand and grit will drop to the bottom and you can scoop out the clean leeks.

Have a delicious week, everyone.
Best,
Judi

Week #10 — What’s in the Bag

FULL VEGETABLE SHARE
Bell Peppers-2 Bell Really big Bell Peppers this year.
Yellow Bell Peppers-1
Serrano Hot Peppers-4 each Hot pepper with a bit of a bite. Do not touch any sensitive areas after cutting a hot pepper.
Eggplant-Black Bell-1
Red Tomatoes-8
Sunkist Heirloom Tomato-1
Leeks-1 bunch
Bright Lights Swiss Chard-1 bunch
Green Slicing Cucumbers-6
Summer Savory-1 bunch Also known as Annual or Summer Thyme.
Sungold Cherry Tomatoes-1 basket

FRUIT SHARE
1 bag Yellow Peaches from Klein’s Kill Orchard
1 basket Donut Peaches from Fix Brothers Farm

MUSHROOM SHARE
White Button from Bulich Mushroom Company